Lubbock grand jury indicts Clute man for escaping treatment center

A Lubbock County grand jury indicted an 18-year-old Clute man Tuesday after police say he and another man escaped from a correctional treatment center, stole a vehicle and ran from police in April.

Chazric Montrel Simms is being held at the Lubbock County Detention Center on felony charges of escape, evading arrest with a previous conviction and unauthorized use of a motor vehicle. He also faces misdemeanor charges of evading arrest and detention, criminal trespass and a Brazoria County warrant for retaliation, according to jail records.

Simms was sentenced to two years of community supervision in 2013 for a retaliation charge, according to Brazoria County court records.

His bond is set at $10,000 for escape, $10,000 for unauthorized use of a motor vehicle and $2,500 for evading arrest with a previous conviction.

Simms was caught April 15 while running from police in a neighborhood in West Lubbock about 12 hours after escaping with another resident from the Lubbock County Community Corrections Facility/Residential Treatment Center.

Simms was at the center under a court order.

Val Monteilh, the center’s director, said Simms and the other resident, who has not been named, were facing reprimands after another resident complained they bullied him.

She said the men jumped a fence before she was to speak to them.

Authorities said a Lubbock patrol officer spotted the men at about 2 a.m. April 15 driving a stolen black Chevrolet Silverado across the yard of a residence in the 6300 block of 30th Street. The men led police on a pursuit to Alex and Verna Cooke Park where they exited the truck and ran away.

Simms was found hiding on the roof of a house in the 6200 block of 13th Street.